Red Yurei
by Smenzer
Summary: One awful day Grell breaks the bottle he kept Madam Red's soul in and scary things happen. Will she forgive him or not? Includes some Grell/Sebastian in chapter two. Basically a ghost story, as yurei is Japanese for ghost.
1. Chapter 1

Red Yurei

Note: With Halloween coming up, I thought it would be a good time to write a scary story and so here it is! See if you can guess who is bothering poor Grell.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to someone else and this is just for fun.

000

It was the worst day in Grell's immortal life. Little did the red reaper know it was about to get worst.

It started out like any other day had. Grell had arrived at work twenty minutes late and William had assigned him a list of souls to collect. All except one had been in London; the oddball having the nerve to go die in some remote desolate location. Worst, the exact location had not been listed; just a vague description of the general area. That had not been helpful at all and so Grell had walked wearily all over the weed-choked countryside and into the woods.

His heel on his favorite boots had snapped off without warning and he had gone tumbling down a steep incline, getting all scratched up in the process. Luckily his face had been spared, but the sharp branches had raked his arms, chest and legs, tearing right through his clothing. His beloved red coat had been damaged as well, the bottom hem having torn free and the black bow being ripped right off. Then he had spent a painful hour limping around trying to find it as the day grew late, the sun setting. He had feared he might have also lost the little glass vial he kept Madam's soul in but to his relief it was still safe in his coat pocket. After finding the bow stuck to a branch on the side of a steep hill, which had been very difficult to climb with his now swollen ankle, he jammed it into his pocket and continued looking for the soul. Finally he found it; the corpse partly covered by fallen leaves already, and collected the soul and viewed the cinematic record.

He had to limp all the way back to London then, his ankle getting fatter and fatter the more he walked. He collected the others on the list, except for two who he feared had been stolen by hungry demons. He had been hours late but what could he do? "William should have given me a more precise location for that first soul! Really, what was he thinking of when he wrote "east of London in the woods by a big rock"? That could be anywhere!"

When he arrived back at the office, William had stabbed him in the head with his hedge trimmer, angry over how extremely late he had been. He had been accused of "consorting with that demon and wasting time" even thought he hadn't seen Sebastian for over a month. His pitiful state didn't soften the other man's anger at all. Ronald had already left for the day so he wasn't there to stick up for him. Eric stepped in though, pointing out his numerous injuries and the fact that his lovely hair was tangled full of burrs. There was no way he would romance the demon looking like a homeless waif who had camped out in the woods. But Spear's wickedly sharp death scythe had already done the damage: his clothes were even more blood stained now and he had a nasty headache to boot.

Eric and Alan helped him back to his apartment, apologizing for Spear's mad behavior and wishing him to get well soon. The two friends left, the apartment door clicking shut behind them.

And that is when things took a turn for the worst.

Grell was extremely weary. His head was pounding like a drum in a marching band and his poor ankle was nearly as fat as a pumpkin. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the black bow and the little glass bottle. Placing both items on the corner of his night stand, he started to remove his red coat. As he was pulling the coat off of his arm, the scarlet material flung outward and a bit of it struck the tiny glass vial, knocking it to the hardwood floor. The glass shattered, sharp shards flying everywhere. The smoky pink mist that had been locked inside hung in the air for a moment, quivering. Then it seemed to dissipate and vanished from sight.

"What?" Grell turned and saw the shattered bottle on the floor. A feeling of raw panic overcame him and his breath caught in his throat. He had thought the thick glass unbreakable and that was why he had used it. He had wanted to keep Madam's soul safe and with him, as he just couldn't bear to lose her even if he had murdered her. That had been an accident of sorts, his emotion overcoming him. And he really didn't want to see her name dragged through the mud and see her sent to prison. It would be horrid beyond belief. And so he had saved her from that.

And he had saved her from a worst fate as well. He was pretty sure murderers went to that fiery place below and since he had bottled her soul she never was sent there. Luckily, William had never noticed. For a "by the book" person, a lot of things slipped by him unnoticed.

And so Madame had stayed with him all of this time, safe in his pocket or sitting on his night stand. Often he would talk to her, tell her about his day and the events in his life. He moaned on how poorly William treated him and how much he loved Sebastian. In a way she was the only real friend he had as his co-workers thought him weird and so didn't associate much with him outside of work. It was a lonely life.

And now he had lost her.

"Where did you go?" Grell cried as he frantically scanned his bedroom for the lost soul. She should be easy to see with his special Shinigami eyes but he just didn't see her anywhere. He looked between his bottles of perfume and makeup, stared up at the ceiling and even painfully got down on his sore knees to look under the bed. The bright red pain that shot through his knees didn't matter, as he had to find her. But no matter where he looked he couldn't find her soul. He collapsed on the floor, crying. It was too much at once.

He lay there for some time, too weak to move. Finally he shoved himself to a sitting position, the scratches sending fresh bursts of hot pain through him as his body moved. He wiped at his wet eyes, sure he must look like a demented clown now with black mascara streaks running down his face. The crying had stuffed his nose and it was hard to breathe. He really needed to blow it but that meant getting up off of the floor. And every time he moved, a new burst of pain shot through him. He really didn't want to think she was lost to him for all eternity. He had never said goodbye to her before, as Ciel had.

He hadn't even attended her funeral.

But now the lost hit him like a brick to the head.

Twisting around, he clung to the bed's frame and weakly pulled himself to his feet. Reaching out for the next piece of furniture to lean on, he made it to the wall and then into the bathroom. Flicking the modern electric light on, he was horrified to see the ghastly state he was in. Ugly dried blood from his head injury stained the front of his white shirt and even had ruined his pretty bow tie. And his hair! Instead of the smooth free flowing locks he fancied it was a tangled mess of sticky brown burrs. "Oh, I hate those burrs! It'll take me hours to get them out!"

But then he remembered how Madame was gone and the drive to get them out vanished. His injuries and extreme tiredness didn't help any either. The hour was late, past midnight actually and he desperately needed sleep. He weakly picked up a tissue and blew his nose, clearing it. His lovely green eyes were bloodshot and yes, he looked like a raccoon. He washed his face the best he could and patted a wet soapy cloth at the scratches halfheartedly. It just didn't seem that important, not with the aching hollow in his heart.

Limping, he made his way back to the bedroom and crawled under the blanket, the scratches burning with each move. The wet cloth had been like pouring acid on the wounds, but he knew they needed to be cleaned. One would think an immortal would be immune to pain but unfortunately that was not so. Thinking he would deal with his hair tomorrow after a good rest, he lay his head on the soft pillow.

He had almost fallen asleep when a loud bang woke him up.

Grell shot upward in bed, his heart pounding within his rib cage. His bedroom was dark except for a weak beam of light that shone in from a streetlight outside his window. The weak light made the dark room more grey than black, allowing him to see the familiar shapes of his furniture. He clutched his blanket with red painted nails, his breath coming short and fast. Normally he was very fearless but that unexpected sound had startled him as it was out of place. The Shinigami apartment complex was usually peaceful and silent at night unless some emergency came up but then they would be notified. The loud bang, however, was out of place.

BOOM!

The noise came again and Grell flinched, instinctively drawing the fuzzy blanket up to his chin and cowering under it. The echoing sound seemed too close, as if it were in his apartment and not down the hall somewhere.

Except he was alone, wasn't he?

His green eyes scanned the darkness but he didn't see anyone. Still, logic told him inanimate objects couldn't make noise by themselves.

And that meant someone was in his apartment!

The frightening sound came again, in three quick successions.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Grell squealed in fright, his thin battered body trembling. He also realized the noise was being caused by his apartment door being slammed shut repeatedly. Realizing he would have to get up and go do something about it, he threw off his blanket with a trembling hand and inched out of bed. His poor ankle shot hot fire up his leg when he put his weight on it, but he had little choice. There was no way he could sleep with that racket going on anyway and he needed sleep desperately. Still, he picked up his chainsaw off of the dresser, just in case. His tired brain could make no sense of it, why someone would be doing this to him in the middle of the night…

By the time he reached the door, he found it yawning wide and with no one in sight. The hallway was deserted as he had expected, the dim night light down the hall flickering in an odd manor and then it went out. For some reason that creeped him out even more. Why would the light burn out now of all times? Was it just coincidence? His breath came faster as he stood in the now pitch black hall, only the dimmest light leaking out of his apartment from the distant streetlight. Moments ticked by and nothing happened; no one leaped out to grab him or yell some scary sounds. His heart rate slowed and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The red reaper leaned against the frame of his doorway, his fear giving way to yawns. The chainsaw seemed like a thousand pound weight in his hand and he didn't fully understand why he had dragged it with him to the door. The reason seemed silly now. His fellow reapers wouldn't hurt him. Sure they were often rude and thought him weird and maybe a few even laughed at him but surely they wouldn't hurt him, would they? He tried to puzzle out an explanation but his brain felt like cotton candy. He yawned loudly, wet tears running down his face. Turning, he inched back into the apartment and locked the door this time. He normally didn't lock it as he never had to before, but maybe the hinges were bad? He crawled back into bed and kept the chainsaw close by, just in case. Truth be told, he still felt a tad jittery…

Minutes ticked by and soon he fell into a restless sleep. He had been sleeping only a short time when the door unlocked itself with a loud click. The reaper mumbled in his sleep at the sharp sound, drawing the fuzzy blanket over his head of tangled red locks. Then the door opened with incredible speed, the doorknob slamming into the wall behind it and cracking the plaster with a spider web pattern.

Grell shot awake again, his green eyes wide with fright. The prowler, whoever it was, had returned! He scrambled out of bed as quickly as he could, snatching his chainsaw off of the dresser where he had put it only moments ago. He held the weapon in front of himself as he slowly and painfully inched towards the door. He stepped on something and paused, glancing down. He bent a tad clumsily and picked the item up; trying to see what it was in the dark. The texture was familiar though. It was one of his fancy dresses he kept in the closet for when he went to the opera dressed as the woman he really was. But what was it doing on the floor? Carefully moving towards the wall, he felt around until he found the switch. Flipping it up, he turned the light on. The bright light blinded him for a bit, the whiteness stinging his poor eyes but when his eyes had adjusted, he was shocked by what he saw.

Someone had tossed all of his clothes out of the closet and onto the floor!

Hot fear swept through him then, as the sight was so disturbing. To think someone had been pawing through his things while he had slept just a short distance away! He then glanced towards the apartment door and saw it yawning wide again, even after he had locked it. Had the person already been inside after he locked it?

Grell's grip on the chainsaw tightened, his knuckles turning white. He scanned every corner of the room he could see but didn't see any lurking shape of a person. In his current state, he was in no shape to fight someone even if he was the best reaper on the dispatch. He hobbled out into the hall as quickly as he could and moved to the closest room to his. The light that had been off before was back on again, but the fact really didn't register in his sleep starved brain. He pounded on the door as best he could, hoping the sound would wake the reaper within.

He heard a few muffled grunts and then the door opened. Eric stood there looking half asleep with a hastily pulled on unbuttoned shirt. "What?"

"Someone broke into my room and threw all of my clothes out of the closet!" Grell cried to the other reaper as he stood only on one foot, the injured one lifted in the air. Mostly it was the wall he was leaning against that was keeping him upright. "I tried to rest but someone kept slamming my apartment door over and over…"

Eric took one glance at Grell's pitiful state and swore. "That devil! He just won't let it rest, will he?"

"Huh?" Grell felt confused. As exhausted as he was, he just couldn't follow the other's thought patterns. Besides, the word "devil" only brought up thoughts of Sebastian and Grell knew it had not been him. That little brat kept his poor Sebas-chan on a short leash.

"Spears, who else do you think?" Eric explained as he wrapped an arm about Grell's shoulder and started to help him back towards his wrecked apartment. They had only taken a few steps when Alan appeared in the hall in a pair of pajamas, having emerged from Eric's room.

"What's going on?" The sick reaper asked as he rubbed his tired eyes. It was clear from his tossed hair and the tired expression on his face that he had been asleep.

"Spears trashed Grell's room it seems…" Eric replied in a sour tone.

"But…but… it couldn't be William!" Grell blurted out, his green-yellow eyes wide with shock. It was no secret he had a crush on William as well and enjoyed flirting with the grim man. Of course, the other never returned any affection at all and seemed disgusted with it all. Well, maybe not disgusted but annoyed. Yes, it annoyed him to no end but that didn't stop the redhead from trying over and over. And that, of course, annoyed William even more.

"Who else could it be?" Eric replied as he paused in the doorway of Grell's room to survey the mess. "He was angry at you earlier, wasn't he? He always has that stick up his butt and wants everything to be perfect. Those two souls didn't get collected and clearly it bugged him a lot more than he let on. And so he sat in his office bubbling and stewing and then he did this…"

Grell tried to imagine William, his dear William, doing this and just couldn't. "But he couldn't!"

"People have secrets, Grell." Eric explained as he stared the other in the eye. "You think you know someone but you have no idea what they're really capable of doing. A person like Spears is a bomb waiting to go off. The man doesn't know the meaning of the word "relax" and that's bad."

"As much as I hate to agree," Alan added from where he stood next to Eric. "I think Eric is right. He's always hitting you with that hedge trimmer of his. He doesn't do that to any other reaper. Ask yourself why."

"He's prejudice is what!" Eric exclaimed with a frown. "Look at yourself. You have dried blood all down the front of your shirt and William did that to you. If you don't put a stop to it, it'll only get worse."

The words sunk into the Grell's tired sleep-starved brain and he realized it was true. William never did stab any other reaper with his death scythe. Why hadn't he ever noticed that before? Still, it was hard to believe that he would do something like this…

"Look, don't worry about this mess." Eric reassured him as he waved his hand at the clothing tossed all over the floor. "Alan and I will clean it up and then we'll spend the night here to make sure he doesn't return. I find this just as disturbing as you do…"

Grell was helped over to his bed and the bloody shirt was removed in favor of a clean nightgown. The red reaper blushed at the attention the two were showing him, but he felt much safer with them in his apartment. He really couldn't believe it had been William but he couldn't think of anyone else either. Did one of his co-workers really hate him so much? He let Eric check his wounds as Alan hung up the clothes on hangers and placed them back into the closet. Thankfully none of his under-things had been tossed out of the drawers as that would be rather embarrassing. And the idea of some stranger pawing through his red lacy pantaloons was sickening. If that ever happened, he really didn't know if he could ever wear them again.

The terror of the break-in had made him completely forget that he had lost Madame until he saw Alan sweeping up the shards of the broken bottle. Just the sight of it made him sniffle, his eyes getting teary. His throat tightened painfully and he could feel the hot tears leaking out from under his long fake lashes.

The other two, however, misunderstood his tears.

"Don't cry. We won't let that scum hurt you any more…" Eric promised as he sat on the edge of Grell's bed. "I should have stepped in earlier to do something about this, but I had my hands full. I know that's not any excuse though…I just didn't think it would come to this."

"But what can we do?" Alan asked Eric with a sad expression on his pale face as he dumped the broken glass bits into the nearby wastebasket. "If it was William, he'll just deny it. And as our supervisor, he's in charge…"

"There must be someone higher up…" Eric replied with a frown.

"But who?" Alan asked as he handed Grell a box of tissues off of the dresser.

"I'll find out." Eric promised with a hard glint in his eye.

Grell dabbed at his wet eyes and blew his drippy nose, still crying about his lost Madame. He would tell them if he could, but he didn't know how. What he had done broke a bunch of rules as he wasn't supposed to hang onto souls or stuff them into bottles to keep as pets. But he had loved her and had needed someone to talk to. And if he told them about Madame, then he'd have to tell them about his time as a butler and well, they might think that was weird. Shinigami just didn't serve as butlers to humans.

"Do you want me to fix your hair?" Alan asked softly.

The red reaper nodded and turned slightly so Alan could get behind him. With the comb and brush from his dresser, Alan started to slowly untangle the long locks and remove the countless brown burrs. He was careful not to yank them out and was extremely gentle, which Grell appreciated. He often felt alone and isolated from his co-workers and normally their indifference didn't faze him one bit, but now he greatly appreciated all they were doing. A section of hair was done at a time and before Grell knew it, his most beloved possession was back to its normal free-flowing state.

"All done. Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Alan suggested as he got up off of the bed and put the hair care items back where he found them. "We'll make sure that Spears doesn't come back."

A nice pleasant warmth filled him at the words, knowing that they cared so much about him. He snuggled under the blanket feeling safe and secure. "Thanks. It means a lot to me."

"If Spears comes back, I'll bash him in the head." Eric threatened with a crooked grin on his face. "Maybe then he'll learn to act like a proper supervisor and not to discriminate."

Alan made himself comfortable on a chair near the dressing table and Eric flicked the light off. The darkness returned and only the sound of Eric moving away from the light switch could be heard. A chair creaked, signaling the other reaper had seated himself. The room was silent except for their soft breaths and the occasional creak of the furniture as they shifted about to get comfortable.

Grell tried to still his mind but he couldn't. He tried to imagine William sneaking into his dark bedroom to do those things and the image just wouldn't come. Was Eric right? Was William really that different than what he thought he was - that strict and uptight persona? Of course, Ciel never dreamed his dear aunt could be a murderer either so maybe it really had been William after all? Eric was right about one thing: sometimes you really don't know a person at all even if you think you do.

The pain throbbed steadily in his head and in his ankle, the pain thumping in time to his heartbeat. The numerous scratches burned, too, but not as badly. Those he could live with. He was used to pain really. The fact that someone had invaded his personal space and attacked his beloved possessions hurt far more. Time ticked by and Grell found himself drifting off to sleep without even realizing he was doing so.

And soon he was dreaming…

His beloved Madame was standing there in her favorite red outfit with the white ruffled blouse, the wide brimmed red hat perched on her head. His heart leaped with joy upon seeing her again as it had been so long and he dashed up to her as quickly as he could as in the dream his injuries was gone. Then he noticed her frown and he skidded to a halt. "Madame?"

"You disobeyed me Grell." She said sternly. "A proper butler is supposed to obey his mistress's orders. You know that."

"But I…" Grell paused as the excuse died on his lips. He tried to think up a witty comeback but his mind had gone blank. Instead the guilt he had carried over her murder rose up, guilt he didn't even know he had. He had saved her from an awful fate so why the sudden guilt? Maybe it was dragged up from deep within due to seeing her face to face again?

"Yes?" Madame stood there glaring at him, one hand on her hip. Her red eyes looked bloodier than ever and they glowed with unshed fury.

Grell quivered in his high heeled boots, his bony knees knocking together. He had forgotten how glorious Madame Red could be when she was killing prostitutes. Her fury exploded out then as she did her wicked deeds, ending the women's useless lives on the streets and poverty stricken parts of town. He had loved her when she had been drenched in blood, her sharp scalpels dripping…except that anger had never been directed at him before. The fake persona he had created of the clumsy, unsure butler suddenly seemed more a part of him than he had realized. With that unwavering angry stare his confidence fizzled out and died. He took an uncertain step backward, his immortal heart thumping unusually fast. "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Grell. Sorry works for a broken plate or teapot." Madame Red coolly explained as she glared at him. "A death scythe through the chest is not the same at all."

He gulped nervously, beads of sweat pouring off of his brow and into his green eyes, stinging them. He thought frantically as what he should do or could do but his mind drew a blank. He just had never been confronted like this by someone he had killed before. He licked his suddenly dry lips, pausing for time. He felt he had to say something, anything. She deserved that much he knew; an explanation. But how do you explain a spur of the moment decision, especially one you regretted later? The truth was he had been sickened and disappointed by her willingness to spare Ciel. He didn't realize how much she had loved the little brat but clearly she had and it had annoyed him greatly. And so he had done what he had.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked as she stood there impatiently thumping the toes of one blood covered shoe on the floor. Both hands were on her hips now and if anything she looked more furious than ever. "You kill me and then I don't even get an explanation?"

"It was an accident!" Grell wailed out as he fell to his knees on the floor before her, quivering in fear. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he tilted his head back to look up at her. He watched as her hand slid into a pocket on her skirt and pulled something forth, the item gripped securely in her tightened fist. To his horror he realized it was the sharp scalpel she had used on the prostitutes. His green-yellow reaper eyes could see the brownish flakes of dried blood where the blade met the wooden handle all too well. The long steel blade shone in the light as it was raised in preparation for plunging it downward at him.

"This will be an accident too then." She replied. "I'm sure you'll understand…"

Grell shrieked like the girl he claimed he was, a high pitch blood-curdling scream. Any moment the scalpel was going to plunge into him as it had already started its downward swing. He weakly threw an arm up to block it but didn't have any faith that it would succeed.

And then his shoulders were being shaken, a gruff voice telling him to wake up. Grell shot upright in bed, the horror of the nightmare still fresh in his mind. He immediately glanced down at his chest, half expecting to see the scalpel poking out of it, the blanket drenched with blood. He didn't see anything though and his mind was still having a hard time believing that the nothing was true – surely the scalpel must be there? And so he ran his hands over himself, feeling only the smooth silk of his nightgown. His breath was coming fast and his palms were sweaty, his heart racing at a crazy speed. He realized he must look like a mad person but at the moment he didn't care.

"Hey, relax…" Eric's voice said from beside him. "You were having a nightmare so I woke you up. Seems like Spears really rattled you this time. He should be demoted for such sick behavior…"

"A nightmare?" Grell turned to glance in the direction of the voice and in the dim gray light of the room he could just make out the other reaper's form. Eric was sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at him. "But it seemed so real…"

"That's how dreams are." Eric replied and laid a reassuring hand on Grell's shoulder. "Alan has trouble sleeping, too, so I'm kind of used to this so don't feel embarrassed or anything…"

The red reaper relaxed a tiny bit, sure now that he had not been stabbed. He willed his heart to stop racing but he could still feel it thumping away, the adrenaline rushing through his system. His Madame had looked so real, so glorious…he missed seeing her like that all covered in wonderfully red blood and releasing her wrath. If only it hadn't been aimed at him!

But maybe dreams were the only thing he had left now as her soul had been lost. He would miss talking to her for hours as he held the little bottle. But who could he tell his problems to? Eric had enough problems caring for Alan and he hated to intercede on a daily basis. Should he ramp up his pursuit of Sebas-chan? Perhaps if he tried harder they could have a real relationship?

"Are you going to be OK?" Alan's soft voice asked.

"I'll be fine." Grell reassured them. "The prowler hasn't returned?"

"Not that I know of. It's been very quiet. Well, I did hear a few odd squeaks – not sure what that had been." Eric patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. If Spears returns, we'll catch him in the act. He'll have some tough explaining to do then."

"Yes, I heard those odd squeaks too." Alan said from within the dark room. "I had almost drifted off to sleep and then those odd sounds started. I don't think I ever heard them before. What do you think they were, Eric?"

"I have no idea." The older reaper admitted. "I doubt if it's important though, as I locked the door."

"But I locked the door before and the prowler still got in." Grell told them as he stared into the dimness of the room. Before his little apartment was soft and cozy, a place he could relax, unwind and be himself. He would curl up in bed with a wicked romance novel and a decadent plate of sweet treats, like ripe strawberries dipped in chocolate. At other time he would buy a box of Funtom's chocolate covered cherries and pretend they were a gift from his darling Sebas-chan. A sudden chill coursed through his veins as a thought occurred to him, a horrifying though. "You don't think its mice, do you? Those filthy rodents could ruin all of my belongings!"

"No, these squeaks sounded different…it's hard to explain." Eric replied.

One of the shadows in the room moved, growing taller as Alan stood from the chair he had been sitting on. "Maybe we should turn the lights on and check? It's better to play it safe, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think you're right." Eric agreed as he also rose from the edge of the bed, stretching his legs for a moment. "Who knows what crazy thing Spears might do? I was watching but if he were to dress completely in black he could blend into the shadows in here easily. I'll get the light."

Grell listened to Eric walk across the room and shaded his eyes with a hand in preparation for the overhead light being flicked on. The blinding white light came on then and he winched, his eyes stinging from the sudden brightness. After a few moments his eyes adjusted and he could see Eric glancing about the room. Everything seemed to be in its right place: the books on the shelf, the clothes in the closet and so forth. Nothing had been destroyed or tossed about by unseen hands. Grell breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against his soft pillow.

Then he noticed how pale Alan's face looked. Well, Alan always did look a tad pale due to the Thorns but at the moment his face was as white as a sheet. He stood next to the bed, trembling. His green ringed eyes were wide in horror behind him glasses and his mouth had dropped open to hang agape. Slowly he lifted a shaking hand to point at Grell's dresser.

"Look!" Alan cried as he pointed at something. "Someone was in here!"

Eric hurried forward, his unbuttoned shirt blowing open from his haste. When he saw whatever Alan had seen, his face grew dark with anger. "How the devil did he do that? We were right here!"

"What, what is it?" Grell asked as he leaned forward, wanting to know what it was the two could see. In order to see it, he either had to turn around in bed or get out of bed, as he was facing the wrong way. And so he threw off his blanket yet again, swung his legs over the side until his bare feet were on the floor and then heaved himself up onto his good foot, one hand on the bed for support.

And what he saw scratched onto his ornate oval mirror shocked him. His favorite red lipstick tube lay open, the end blunt. Words in greasy red had been hacked onto the mirror's surface in quick angry strokes. How anyone could sneak next to his bed when Eric and Alan had been on guard was beyond him, but sneak they did. The blood red words were proof of that.

YOU'RE DEAD.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

Red Yurei 2

"How the heck did someone do that?" Eric asked in a huff, clearly rattled. "We were right here! He'd have to go right past us to get at that mirror…"

"Maybe it's not William…" Alan said softly, his voice full of doubt. "I can't see him going through all of this trouble to do something like that. Even if he dressed entirely in black we'd see him."

"But who else could it be?" Eric asked his best friend.

"Maybe it's a ghost, a poltergeist. I heard they can do things like this, bang doors and move objects around…" Alan explained as he pointed to the words written on the mirror. "A ghost could pick up the lipstick tube and move it through the air. I've never seen one but I suppose the tales could be true…"

"A ghost? Really?" Eric laughed a tad crazily. "Well, I suppose that explains why I didn't see Spears sneaking in here. And here I thought for sure it was him."

Grell sat back onto his bed feeling somewhat relieved that Madame Red's soul hadn't been lost after all, but was it any better that she was clearly angry at him?

"Hey, Grell, is there some reason a ghost might be angry at you?" Eric asked as he focused his gaze on him. "It would help a lot if we knew what's going on now that it might not be Spears…"

"Maybe…" Grell admitted. "I was sort of playing butler for this human and then I accidentally killed her so I guess she's angry I disobeyed her…"

The other two reapers gawked at him in surprise.

Eric threw his hands up in the air. "Great! So maybe it is a poltergeist! I thought we would see a ghost but plainly she can hide on us…."

"She was in that broken bottle…" Grell told them sheepishly. It was embarrassing to admit really as it was such a childish thing to do, like sleeping with a stuffed animal. That it broke regulations didn't concern him so much.

"And let me guess. This started up right after you broke it?" Eric asked as he quickly caught on.

"Now that you mention it, it did."

"But what do you _do_ about a poltergeist?" Eric turned to Alan, but Alan only shrugged. Seeing his friend had no ideas either, Eric sighed and rubbed at his head. "Look, maybe if we ask the ghost nicely she'll let us get some sleep, because otherwise we're going to be zombies tomorrow."

"It's worth a shot." Alan agreed with a tired nod.

"Please Madame," Grell said to the empty air about him, his hands folded together against his chest. "Forgive me for my careless action. I never meant to kill you, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I regretted it ever since. I'll even take you to see your nephew tomorrow; just let us get some sleep…"

The three Shinigami sat and waited for some kind of reply. The moments ticked by and if any ghost or spirit was listening, it didn't make itself known. Grell nestled under the blanket and rested his head on the pillow. His poor ankle still hurt something awful, which didn't surprise him at all. But he did feel slightly better knowing that his dear Madame hadn't been sucked down into the fiery pits below. He still cared about her even if he was in love with Sebastian these days.

Eric shut off the light again, mumbling something about the craziness of the whole thing. "Ghosts, who'd have thought?"

The room grew dim again and the three settled to get some sleep – hopefully. Soon Eric's loud snores filled the room, his head resting on one of Grell's tables, his folded arms a pillow. Alan had fallen asleep in his chair as well, the extreme lateness of the hour knocking him out. And despite his pain, Grell was asleep too.

A red mist came out from where it had been hiding behind Grell's tall bookcase. It swirled about the center of the room and then took on a more solid form. A short time later Madame Red stood there. She glanced down at herself in a somewhat bewildered expression, as if surprised to see her body again. This whole ghost thing was still very new and although she had caught on to the "moving stuff around" phase she was still surprised to see a body. Experimentally she touched the material of her skirt, picking it up with ease. She then ran her hands over her own arms, chest and stomach clearly being surprised by her solid state. Well, it felt solid to her at the moment.

She then turned her attention to the sleeping reapers. Truthfully it had been great fun sneaking past the two strangers who had been trying to be so rapt with attention. She had been almost giddy with excitement at "getting away" with it. And that look on their faces when they found the message, priceless!

Madame giggled at her own cleverness at tricking them.

But really, she had been angry with Grell. First he had killed her and then locked her up in that bottle for ages! And when the bottle had broken, her anger rushed out along with her freedom. She had quickly learned how to grab objects and make them move. She had chosen the door as she wanted to scare him, that and to make her presence known. But now her anger was gone and she stepped up to his bed to examine him. First and foremost she was a doctor and by the looks of it he needed one. Her little tricks had meant to scare him, not hurt him.

She laid her ghostly hands on his swollen ankle, the ghostly chill taking the swelling down. She ran her hands over the joint, making sure it wasn't broken. Satisfied it wasn't, she moved to check his head injury. How in the world that awful Spears man could hit him in the head with that thing was beyond her – it was so nasty! Maybe she should pay him a visit too…

Soon she had the head injury healed. Shinigami healed quickly anway, she just nudged it along.

000

The next morning Grell sleepily woke up and was shocked to see his ankle was back to normal. He held the leg aloft and stared at the ankle in amazement. How had it healed so quickly? He had been expecting to be hobbling around for days…

"It looks like your little speech last night worked." Eric said with a smile as he stood up and stretched, yawning. "And look at your ankle, all healed! How did it get better so fast?"

"I have no idea…" Grell admitted as he continued to gawk at it. "But I promised to take Madame to see her nephew so I better."

"We'll get out of your way then." Eric said as he helped a half asleep Alan to his feet and out the door. The door closed behind the two and Grell was alone.

Grell was left alone and he stared about the room, wondering if she was there somewhere. Would he ever be able to see her? He supposed if she chose to reveal herself he might be able to. Grell showered and dressed after cautiously testing his once-injured ankle and deciding that it was indeed healed. As he was tying his red-and-white striped bowtie a thought occurred to him. Had Madame Red healed his ankle somehow? Truthfully he knew nothing of ghosts and had never encountered one before…

He picked up his beloved red coat and paused. What did Madame think of him wearing her coat? He gazed about the room and still didn't see anything, just the usual things that sat about. He sighed, seating himself on the edge of the bed so he could fix the damaged hem and sew the black bow back on. Once that was done he stood. "I'm going to go see your nephew now. Why don't you come along?"

Grell felt ridiculous talking to an empty room but shrugged it off. He knew spirits and souls were real, he just wasn't sure about ghosts…

He made a portal and soon found himself on the lawn of Ciel's large estate, the manor just before him. The Shinigami took a deep breath as he pondered how to explain this visit. Of course he would see his darling Sebas-chan! Grell pulled out a tiny unbreakable hand mirror and checked his appearance. His makeup was perfect; his fake eyelashes were on, his teeth pearly white and his breath minty. Not a single scratch from yesterday's awful soul collection marred his beauty. "Sebas-chan is sure to love me!"

Grell hurried up to the house and quickly crawled in through a window that someone had forgotten to lock. Going to the front door wasn't the best as sometimes the demon was in a bad mood and shut it in his face. How rude!

The redheaded reaper flounced down the long hallway, his heart giddy with thoughts of seeing his beloved when he collided into a solid warm body. "Ooff!"

"What are you doing here?" A cool voice demanded.

Grell stared upward from where he was now lying on the floor, having fallen from his unexpected collision with someone. To his utter delight, it was the burgundy-eyed demon! "Sebas-chan! It's you!"

The reaper wasted no time flinging himself at the demon, this time managing to wrap his arms about the dark creature like an octopus. He clung tightly, pressing his face against the demon's chest. The pleasant scent of sulfur filled his nose, as that was the demon's natural odor. His co-workers hated the scent but he had learned to love it.

"Grell, get off of me. I have no time for this foolishness. I have a schedule to keep." The demon latched onto the back of his collar and yanked him off, the reaper's red-and-black boots kicking slightly at the air as the butler easily held him aloft.

"Put me down!" Grell cried as he struggled to get free.

"Are you here for a reason or just to pester me?" Sebastian released the other man and stood there patiently while waiting for an answer.

"I came to see Ciel actually…" Grell admitted as he quickly fixed his clothes and straightened his hair. "It seems I have discovered something he'd want to know."

"Oh? And that would be…?"

Grell took a moment to admire Sebastian. Just standing there in the corridor he looked so lovely! His hair fell softly about his face in raven-dark tresses and how coyly he blinked those wonderful red eyes! It was almost enough to give him a nosebleed. But as usual the man … er, demon, was playing hard-to-get! Or maybe he truly was naïve and didn't realize he was flirting? Grell decided to help him out a bit, give him a more tactful and clear hint. He leaned forward, fluttering his long fake eyelashes.

A sigh escaped the demon's mouth. "I'll see if Bocchan has a moment to see you."

"What? Don't I get a kiss?" Grell asked unhappily, his face falling when the obvious hint apparently flew over the demon's head.

"Kissing in not on the schedule." Sebastian turned and started to walk the way he came down the corridor, the long tails of his coat fluttering behind him. "Please tell the Earl whatever it is and then leave."

The words horrified the reaper. He stood there for a moment in shock and then ran after the tall figure in black. "Must _everything_ be on this schedule of yours?"

"Yes, I prefer it that way." The demon replied honestly. "Phantomhive must run smoothly if I'm to get everything done each day and that means a schedule."

"And where do you keep this schedule?" He asked as ideas of writing _Kiss Grell _on it multiple times in lovely red ink floated about in his head.

"In my head. I have an excellent sense of time." The demon explained.

At the words his dream faded but Grell didn't let that stop him. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and paused before the ornate door to Ciel's home office.

"Wait here while I'll go see if Bocchan has a moment to spare…and please don't cause any problems in my brief absence."

Grell sighed as the demon slipped into the room behind the door. "Maybe I should have just climbed in his office window…but then I wouldn't be able to see Sebas-chan!"

Then Grell started to worry how he would explain the ghost thing when he hadn't actually _seen_ a ghost. "What if they think I'm crazy or weird or something…?"

The reaper slapped a black gloved hand over his mouth, his green-yellow eyes wide with horror. What if Sebastian had _heard_ him just now? It would be so _embarrassing_ to be caught talking to oneself and then he'd think he really _was_ crazy! The demon would never marry him then! And then all of that time spent daydreaming of the perfect wedding when at work would have been wasted. Who cared of stupid reports on dead people when he had a _wedding_ to plan? What did it matter if he and the groom hadn't dated yet? That was just a very, very minor detail. Grell heard the demon's soft footfalls approaching the closed office door and he quickly straightened, placing a pleasant smile on his face. Maybe the smile would show the other how pretty he was…

But Sebastian didn't seem to notice. "You may see the Earl now…"

Grell held up his head and strode into the room in a dignified manner. He approached Ciel's desk and daintily seated himself, crossing one leg over the other. He, after all, was a _girl_ and so he sat like one. A sideways glance towards the demon, which now stood near his young master, only showed a blank expression. Grell seethed inside. How dense could he be?

"Well? What is it?" Ciel asked in a bored tone as he leaned back in his fancy chair. The black eyepatch was over the one eye and his other eye gazed at him in that cool steady manner.

"I, errr, let's just say I found something you lost some time ago…" Grell said somewhat mysteriously, unsure how to bring up the subject matter of ghosts.

"Well, what is it?" Ciel asked in that same bored tone. "I really don't care about some trinket…"

"Perhaps I should rephrase that, as it's more of _someone_ than a some_thing_. But it's a bit difficult to explain… it will sound unbelievable and insane and I don't want you to think I'm crazy…"

Ciel glared at him. "You're the most insane person I know…"

Grell's green-yellow eyes snapped wide in shock at the young earl's words. How dare he say that! "Why you…"

"You're _always_ doing some stupid thing, like leaping at my butler or having bloody noses for no reason or saying weird stuff…" Ciel explained.

"That's because I'm madly in love!" Grell hotly protested as he felt the heat creep up into his face. "You're just a child so you don't understand it."

"Whatever." Ciel waved it off, uncaring. "Now who did you find?"

"Well, if I return it can I get a kiss from Sebas-chan?" He asked hopefully, fluttering his long fake eyelashes at the demon again.

"Perhaps, if I value what I'm receiving." Ciel stared at the reaper. "Why do you keep doing that? It's annoying. Do you have dirt in your eye or what?"

"I'm flirting with Sebas-chan!" Grell explained as now felt annoyed too. "Girls do that when they like a man and want to let him know."

A horrified expression formed on Ciel's face then. "So that's why Elizabeth was doing that! I know I'm betrothed to her, but … ICK!"

The demon sighed and placed a white-gloved hand to his head, clearly realizing he had yet another problem to deal with.

"Anyway, I accidentally broke this bottle and then all of this weird stuff started to happen in my apartment. The door kept slamming and my lovely clothes were tossed out of the closet onto the floor…" Grell paused there to check how they were handling the story so far. His leg was bouncing nervously as he came closer and closer to the ghost part.

"It sounds like a ghost…" Ciel declared.

"What? You actually _believe_ in ghosts?" Grell exclaimed as the words hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Of course we do. Sebastian and I cleaned up a haunted castle some time ago and dealt with two ghosts." Ciel smirked, enjoying seeing the other squirm with his obvious shock. "Why, don't you? I would think a reaper would know more about them than we do."

"We never actually saw one before…" Grell informed them as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"And this ghost is…?" Ciel asked as he truly did look puzzled now.

Before Grell could answer, a bright red mist materialized in the air, the air of the room growing cooler. Within seconds it had transformed itself into Madame Red. She threw her arms up wide and raced at Ciel so fast the wide-brimmed red hat fell off her head. "Ciel!"

The next second Ciel was being choked by the ghost as it hugged him tightly, a delighted expression on its face.

"Ack! Let go of me! I can't breathe!" Ciel gasped, struggling uselessly in his aunt's cool grasp. His hair was mussed until it was a horrible mess and his eyepatch fell off. Then his face was covered in icy kisses, the ghost somehow managing to leave bright red lipstick all over his face in a very undignified manner. No earl would be caught in public looking that way and Ciel would be horrified if he knew. Luckily, he couldn't see it.

"But Ciel, I haven't seen you in ages!" Madame Red protested as she loosened her grip somewhat and leaned back a bit so she could see him properly. "Surely you can't fault me for being worried about you? I want to know everything that's been going on since I saw you last! Now you just have to tell me!"

"Oh, so I _can_ see a ghost…" Grell stated from where he sat somewhat surprised.

"What horrid case are you working on now?" Madame Red demanded to know as she waved a hand about in the air. "You just _have_ to tell me! See, I have it all planned out! I can spy on people for you, isn't that lovely? They won't ever see me either and then Grell and I can help you catch all of those horrid criminals! With our _experience_ we'll be very helpful!"

Ciel groaned. While he loved his aunt dearly, her nose really didn't belong in his cases but as a ghost there was little he could do to stop her.

"Why are you groaning like that?" She asked, worry evident in her voice. "Are you sick? You are, aren't you? I better examine you! It's a good thing I'm a doctor…"

Sebastian smiled behind his white-gloved hand, the smile turning into soft snickers when Ciel started to protest loudly, the boy's arms waving about uselessly as he tried to shove the ghost away.

"What about my promised kiss?" Grell asked as he stood with one hand on his hip. Here he had done the little brat a huge favor, reuniting him with his departed aunt and he didn't even get a thank you? The reaper's eyes shifted to the demon and saw Sebastian had his attention on the boy and the ghost. It looked like he was laughing behind his hand, humor dancing in his red eyes.

_He's not looking at me at all! Now is the perfect moment to steal that promised kiss!_

Grell did one of his famous Shinigami leaps, easily clearing the distance between where he was and where the demon stood. Sebastian was caught entirely off guard by the sudden sneak attack to the reaper's delight. First his arms wrapped around the demon's neck securely and then their heads collided. The demon was knocked over backward and crashed to the floor, Grell landing on top of him. The redhead quickly pressed his lipstick covered mouth to the demon's lips, kissing him passionately.

_Finally our first kiss!_

He could feel Sebastian shoving at his shoulders, trying to break their fateful kiss but Grell refused to give up that easily. He clung stubbornly to the demon like a patch of tangled seaweed twisted around an oar, the reaper's long curtain of hair keeping their kiss somewhat private. Besides, he doubted if the earl cared at the moment. Finally the demon's strength worn out and he was shoved upward, his head spinning from the magic of it all. "Ah, Sebas-chan, I knew you loved me!"

The demon lay on the floor with the reaper sitting on top of him. Sebastian's eyes glowed a fiery red as he glared at the other man, the man who now sported a goofy love-sick expression. He could practically see the hearts that danced around his head. It was sickening. "You are delusional."

"And you…" Grell poked a black-gloved finger into the demon's chest. "Are scared to admit it! Love is like oxygen! Everyone falls in love my dear Sebas-chan and ours is fated by the moon and stars! We are meant to be together! Why do you fight it so? Are you embarrassed to be seen with a lovely lady on your arm?"

"You are not a lady and demons do not get embarrassed." Sebastian stated as coolly stared at the redhead. "Now get off me. I must attend to my master."

"Let him enjoy his reunion with his dear aunt. It sounds like he's having a lovely time…" Grell smiled down at his demon, a wild look gleaming in his green-yellow eyes.

Ciel's strangled gasp could be heard in the background as the ghostly doctor stuck an equally ghostly flat stick into his mouth to examine his throat and tongue. Odd gurgles issued forth next, his arms frantically waving about.

"It does not sound like a good time…" The demon countered as he tried to shove the annoying creature off but it clung like glue.

"Of course he's having a good time! He was angry and upset that she was gone and now I've returned her! It's as it was before, more or less….right?"

"So you're trying to make up for what you did, correct a past wrong? I thought you didn't care…" Sebastian stated.

"Of course I care!" Grell exclaimed with emotion in his voice. "I never meant to kill her! It was an accident! I was angry and not thinking straight. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things and once done I couldn't take it back. But I kept her soul safe all of this time, in a little bottle. By the way she trashed my room I guess she didn't like being cooped up…but its fixed now, right?"

"I presume so." Sebastian leaped to his feet and set Grell on his own, holding the reaper for a moment until he got his balance from the sudden change in position.

Grell noticed that the demon was looking at him, really looking at him with an intense gaze. It made him nervous and his first instinct was to back away, but he felt the demon's warm hand on his back, steadying him. Even through his layers of clothes and the glove Sebastian was wearing he could feel the heat, like a small mini oven. His own hands started to sweat inside his gloves and his stomach gave a funny twist.

_Why is he looking at me like that?_

Although he had begged for the other's attention numerous times, he had never received it before.

"I believe you have made Bocchan very happy. He is still in shock of course, but he'll appreciate it later." The demon smiled then. "I believe there is more to you than meets the eye. Perhaps you're not as selfish and insane as I thought, that you might possess some honor…"

_Is Sebas-chan thinking of giving me a chance?_

It sure sounded that way. Grell clung to Sebastian's arm and rested his head on the demon's shoulder, a smile on his face. For once the demon didn't pull away and the reaper stood there happily. For the moment he was content and watched the antics of Ciel getting the hated exam through a pink fog of love.

_Anything is possible now…_


End file.
